At least seven people have reportedly been killed in Syria Thursday after a drone attack targeted a military academy graduation ceremony in Homs. 

"Seven dead and more than 20 regime officers wounded in a violent explosion in the area of the military academy in Homs, caused by an attack by drones during a graduation ceremony," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, according to the AFP. 

The source of the attack is unclear. 

Syria's defense minister attended the ceremony but left minutes before the strikes, a Syrian security source told Reuters.

"After the ceremony, people went down to the courtyard and the explosives hit. We don't know where it came from, and corpses littered the ground," a witness who claimed to have set up decorations at the event told Reuters.

AFP also is reporting that Syrian state television is describing the incident as a "terrorist attack" and there are a "large number of casualties." 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant said it began releasing a second batch of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea on Thursday after the first round of discharges ended smoothly.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said workers activated a pump to dilute the treated water with large amounts of seawater, slowly sending the mixture into the ocean through an underground tunnel.

The wastewater discharges, which are expected to continue for decades, have been strongly opposed by fishing groups and neighboring countries including South Korea, where hundreds of people staged protest rallies. China banned all imports of Japanese seafood, badly hurting Japanese seafood producers and exporters.

JAPAN VOWS TO SUPPORT FISHERIES DURING COUNTRY'S DECADES-LONG PROCESS OF RELEASING FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR WASTE

The plant's first wastewater release began Aug. 24 and ended Sept. 11. During that release, TEPCO said it discharged 7,800 tons of treated water from 10 tanks. In the second discharge, TEPCO plans to release another 7,800 tons of treated water into the Pacific Ocean over 17 days.

About 1.34 million tons of radioactive wastewater is stored in about 1,000 tanks at the plant. It has accumulated since the plant was crippled by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

TEPCO and the government say discharging the water into the sea is unavoidable because the tanks will reach capacity early next year and space at the plant will be needed for its decommissioning, which is expected to take decades.

They say the water is treated to reduce radioactive materials to safe levels, and then is diluted with seawater by hundreds of times to make it much safer than international standards.

Some scientists say, however, that the continuing release of low-level radioactive materials is unprecedented and needs to be monitored closely.

FUKUSHIMA WASTEWATER HAS BEEN RELEASED, BUT OTHER CHALLENGES, LIKE REMOVING MELTED NUCLEAR FUEL, REMAIN

Japan’s government has set up a relief fund to help find new markets and reduce the impact of China’s seafood ban. Measures also include the temporary purchase, freezing and storage of seafood and promotion of seafood sales at home.

Cabinet ministers have traveled to Fukushima to sample local seafood and promote its safety.

TEPCO is tasked with providing compensation for reputational damage to the region's seafood caused by the wastewater release. It started accepting applications this week and immediately received hundreds of inquiries. Most of the damage claims are linked to China’s seafood ban and excess supply at home causing price declines, TEPCO said.

Agriculture Minister Ichiro Miyashita promoted Japanese scallops at a food fair in Malaysia on Wednesday on the sidelines of a regional farm ministers’ meeting.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has reviewed the safety of the wastewater release and concluded that if carried out as planned, it would have a negligible impact on the environment, marine life and human health.